High-Tech Glasses for Lazy Eye
Wearing an eye patch can make one look like a pirate. So why not go for a hipper, cooler alternative? A new research suggests that high-tech digital specs are a great alternative to the dreaded eye patch in treating lazy eye syndrome, or amblyopia.
Framed to look like ski eyewear, the state-of-the-art glasses are designed to obstruct vision in the good eye every 30 seconds. These cutting-edge spectacles are equipped with a temporary LCD digital cover, which is intended to mimic the effect of eye patches and eyedrops – the standard lazy eye treatment. These high-tech specs are designed to entice children who are often opposed to the traditional treatment options.
According to lead researcher Dr. Daniel Neely, these digital specs offer the same effectivity as that of conventional use of eye patches in treating lazy eye.
“Our study demonstrates that this treatment option is equally effective compared to traditional patching,” Dr. Neely, of the Glick Eye Institute at Indiana University School of Medicine, said. “And we are hoping that it’s actually more effective for certain subsets of patients.”
Lazy eye, or dullness of vision, affects about 3 percent of children in the world, Dr. Neely added. In this condition, one eye is weaker than the other, resulting in the weaker eye “wandering” or shifting inward. The brain, in turn, suppresses optical information originating from the weaker eye.
Dr. Neely recommends early intervention and corrective treatment. If untreated, the neurologic system will reject all visual signals coming from the weaker eye, resulting in vision loss in that eye.
